A Blue Flame
by CherryBlossomGirl22
Summary: Ever thought about what could happen if those two met?  - NOT an AU. Mostly in between the Arlong Arc and the Alabasta Arc.
1. A Blue Flame

_**A Blue Flame**  
_

_**by Cherry  
**_

* * *

_"The blue flame is the hottest and_

_ most intense part of a fire, _

_and the color blue is often a symbol of_

___passionate love,_

_divine revelation, _

_and the essence of Heaven"_

Patricia King


	2. The Unpaid Bill

**Hey guys,**

**so I picked this story up after more than two years and I thought up a plot that I think will satisfy you. I am just revising the first two chapters a bit, because there are a few things throwing me off about my writing style from back then. I won't change anything major though. So, don't worry.**

**What's interesting to know about this story: Well it's kind of a spin-off from the One Piece story line. Ace and Nojiko obviously never met according to Oda, but I kind of always wondered what would happen if they would. So this is my imagination running wild. I'll try not to make it a sad Ace-story, but I'll balance it with the original plot. As the story progresses you'll see what I mean.**

**Well, enough of my blah blah: ENJOY :)**

**Cherry**

* * *

The sky was of the same dark gray color as the water surrounding her. She could not make out if it was day or night. She did not know how much time had passed by. Hours. Maybe even a day or two. It did not matter. Her strength had nearly faded and the only thing that kept her going was her will to find... Her hope for… She did not know anymore what she hoped for. What she _could_ hope for. The thoughts which normally raced through her head were swept away one by one with every new wave she encountered on this rough sea.

The woman looked up at the sky. Bellemere would have said those clouds belonged in the hands of a skilled dry cleaner. She chuckled silently. But even though the thought she just had had, had been a happy one, it did cost her that last ounce of strength with which she had held on to the tiny wooden plank that had been her only companion for what felt like an eternity. She was hungry, thirsty and tired. So, so tired.

And with her arms slipping from the wood and a last breath her body sank into the sea.

* * *

"Hey Nojiko. It's Genzo for you."

The young woman turned around from where she had just served food to a weird looking stranger. There were always a lot of these guys in here. Most of them were idiots and had no table manners whatsoever. The bluenette walked a few steps towards her boss holding the phone out to her.

"Thanks Tsuba."

He handed her the phone (I refuse to write den den mushi. The last part sounds like the word for 'pussy' where I come from and it's just plain weird to hold that to your ear). While still standing at the side of the bar where it was rather noisy Nojiko began talking. If she just went to another room to talk someone might try a dine'n'dash on her and she would not have that. Besides she was used to this kind of volume by now.

"Heya Genzo. How are you doing?"

There was a light laughter at the other side. "You're full of energy as it seems. I'm fine. In fact everyone here is. But what's more interesting: How have you been holding up? Doesn't sound like you're suffering or something."

"I ain't. I'm doing good so far. I already have half the money I need to get back to you guys. Have you taken good care of Bellemere's oranges? I'll have your ass for it if you didn't."

It was a silly thought that Genzo would not take the best of care of her plantation. Nojiko knew that Genzo still loved Bellemere and would put all his devotion for her into the fruits. But that was why it was such fun making little remarks like that.

"O-of course. But Nojiko listen. You're on the Grand-Line now… You're young and… Ah, well… Just don't come back."

"What? Don't you want me back?" She grinned.

"No.", he sighed. "That's not what I meant…"

"I know", she said with the attitude of a cheeky kid that just tricked an elder.

"Why, you little brat." Another sigh. "Bellemere wouldn't have wanted for you to stay in this little town for ever. And it's not only her. We all here know that you are cut out for so much more than this."

'And here we go again…', Nojiko thought and then replied. "Genzo, I have already told you: I have to take care of the plantation and…"

"Well I think I'm doing a great job with it and don't you give me no crap about Nami or Bellemere here, you hear me? Do something for yourself."

Nojiko sighed. "Okay. If I ever get the urge to throw away everything that I've worked for and everything Bellemere died for and Nami nearly too, then I'm going to 'live a little'. But if I decide I'm going back you'll never bother me again with this stuff, alright?"

"You're never going to change. Well then I just wanted to hear how you're holding up and this is getting rather expensive now. We'll stay in touch."

"Yeah. Bye"

And with that Nojiko resumed to work. She chatted a little with the guests and laughed a lot, especially with the regulars.

The day passed like any other and before short it was already evening. The pub got crowded as more and more drunken men could be seen everywhere. It was just like any other ordinary day since she had gotten here. Just as she served a loud bunch of little no-name pirates another round of beer at one of the larger tables next to the entrance a guy walked into the pub. He was soaked to the bone which was not very difficult for he wore no shirt.

'How can he walk around like that? It's freezing outside. I hadn't even noticed that it's raining. Well, I've worked non-stop.'

And it continued to be like that. The rain only made the guest in the pub stay longer. It was already way past midnight and she served meals and beer to them, but for some strange reason her attention was drawn to that guy every now and then. He had seated himself at the bar and had ordered nothing but a beer which he drank quietly.

With another eight beer in her hands she walked over to the loud bunch who were still noisy and had gotten even more wasted. Nojiko put the beer on the table and was just about to walk back when someone grabbed her arm.

"Oi woman, come sit with us and chat a bit."

One of the pirates pulled her onto his lap and without letting go of her wrist he placed his other hand on her waist. He smelled like he had not even heard of a bath and looked like it, too. She turned her head to face him.

"I'm really sorry, sir, but I have to work so let me go, okay?", she said with a professional business-smile on her face.

"Aww. Now don't ya be like that. Everyone is served and ya can surely spare one or two minutes for me, can't ya dollface?"

'_DOLLFACE?!' _"I really need to go back to work sir." Nojiko tried half-heartedly to free herself, but the man just would not let go of her. He even let his hand wander up from her waist to her right breast. 'Okay, this is it!'

She turned her head to the kitchen window which was always open. "Boss?"

"Go ahead, Nojiko."

That was all she needed to hear. In a split second she had wound herself free and send the pirate over her shoulder to kiss the floorboards. He landed just in front of the door (you know those tiny double doors lucky-luke-style) and before he could say another word she kicked him out onto the wet streets. Nojiko pulled her tank top back in order, walked to the table and put her hand on it.

"So before you join him – one way or the other – you'll to pay the bill.", she said smiling.

The men payed and left in a hurry. Nojiko retreated back behind the bar. That disgusting guy had been right though. Although the pub would normally be empty right now there were still some customers left due to the rain. She started cleaning the glasses.

"It'll get you in trouble."

She turned to where the voice had come from. It was that shirtless guy.

"What?"

"To send pirates flying like that." He did not look up while speaking with her.

Nojiko put her left hand on her hip. "As long as you behave I won't treat you the same so don't be scared, little pirate."

Now he turned his face to her. He looked rather boyish and his freckles made the dumbfounded look on his face even worse. "What?"

"You _are _a pirate obviously. That tattoo on your back gives you away. It's quite large."

He laughed. "That's not what I meant. But it should be fun to watch you trying to kick me anywhere."

She grinned. "It sure would."

Just as she was starting to enjoy this little conversation the boss came out of the kitchen. "Heya Nojiko. We're closing up for today."

Said person turned back to her conversation partner. "So, still wanna see me… Ey, what's the matter with you. Yo, you alive?"

Her boss turned out the lights and shouted: "Oi, everyone get your asses up and go home. We're closin' up!"

While the guests left he walked over to his employee. "What's with him?"

Nojiko poked the seemingly dead man. "Dunno. I think he passed out or something. Can we just leave him here?"

"You can do what you want. Is it okay if I leave the cleaning in here to you? My wife's gonna kill me if I get home late again with you being so pretty an' all."

He winked at her playfully and Nojiko laughed. "No problem. You go ahead but leave me the keys will you?"

"Yeah, here. Bye."

"Bye."

And with that he left.

'So, and what am I supposed to do with you fella? Well, I'll just put you outside for now.'

That was easier said than done. She walked around the bar, turned him, lay his left arm over her shoulders and put her right arm around his waist. She had to admit that his toned and naked chest felt very nice under her fingers. With a pull she managed to get him of his chair. Though Nojiko was not a weak woman and this guy was not huge he did in fact weigh enough to make her breathe a little harder than usual. She walked slowly to the entrance and placed him outside in a sitting position right next to it.

With that done she started cleaning. There were a lot of glasses and the floor was dirtier than usual, too. Thank goodness the boss had already cleaned the kitchen. It took her an hour to clean it all up and by the time she was set to leave the clock showed her that it was already half past two.

Nojiko took her little backpack over her shoulder and stepped outside. The pub had sort of a wooden marquise under which she now stood. It still hadn't stopped raining.

'Damn, I'll surely get wet in this weather. Well, it can't be helped.' She shrugged her shoulders and was just about to close the door when she saw a little note on the floor. 'Wait, that's where I put this guy from before.'

Nojiko picked it up.

_Thanks for the free beer!_

'That insufferable… Argh! Great now I have to pay for that.' She kicked a bottle that lay in front of the pub to the other side of the street and started to walk home. It wasn't a very far walk, but the rain was getting harder and because she just wore her usual tank top and jeans it was rather cold. She started running. 'I just want to get home and take a relaxing, hot bath.'

Just when she turned around a corner she bumped into something and fell back. Nojiko looked up. It was rather someone she bumped into. A huge man more hairy than anything she ever wanted to see stood in front of her. He looked down on her with a gentle look on his face and offered her his hand to stand up.

"Lady, don't ya run as fast without looking where ya're goin'."

"I'm sorry, sir."

She took his hand and he pulled her up. In fact he pulled her up way higher than it would have been necessary. Her feet did not reach the ground anymore and his grip was getting tighter. She looked at him. His gentle smile from before had shifted into a disgusting look that sent shivers down her spine.

'This reminds me of… No! I don't want to think of it!'

She wanted to say something, but the man was faster. "So ya're that little waitress. I'll make ya remember ta never humiliate ma nakama again!", he roared and then he threw her backwards against a wall.

The impact knocked the breath out of her lungs and she saw stars for a second. She tried to push herself to her feet, but again she was pulled up. Not as high as before though. She could vaguely see more men coming from both ends of the alley and gathering around her now. Some of them had been in the loud bunch she had served. They were grinning wildly. She suddenly saw the huge pirate's fist coming her way and closed her eyes. Her mind went blank for a second when she was punched in the stomach yet again. Nojiko wanted to say something or scream. But her body was paralyzed. As if her whole strength had been drained from the hand that had held her by the neck.

'Why is this? Why can't I do something? Am I truly still this weak?'

The anger toward herself was so mind numbing that she did not even hear what the pirate said. She just knew that a second later she was kicked, soaring up into the air and then falling rapidly towards the ground. But instead of hitting the hard surface she was caught. She did not even bother to open her eyes as she was sure she would now be passed around from pirate to pirate so they could all take part in beating her senseless and whatever else. But this pirate did not hit her or did anything except hold her in place. She opened her eyes but everything was just a swirl of colors and movements so she closed them again.

It felt like she was in a tornado and her already maltreated stomach was about to turn upside down when the feeling slowly subsided after a few seconds. It was very much like getting out of the big roller coaster on Tanoshiihi island ('a fun day' I think. Don't hit me if it's wrong). She was feeling rather unwell and could not quite get a grip on what had happened.

"Oi woman. You alright?"

She knew that voice and opened her eyes immediately. Bad idea.

"No. I'm feeling sick."

The shirtless guy grinned. "Well, never heard that line from a woman in my arms before."

He put Nojiko down but steadied her as she was still no good on her feet. She did not know how but she heard herself say: "You didn't pay your bill, stupid pirate."

"That's not a very nice way to say thank you to your savior." He pouted while Nojiko finally looked around the small street.

All the pirates including the huge one lay face down in the mud. 'Wow. He took them all out in such a short time?'

"So, do I get a 'thank you' or what?" She looked at him. He was still pouting like a little child.

She laughed a little strained laugh. "Well I guess that makes up for the beer." Remembering something Nojiko turned in his arm and searched the alley with her eyes.

"What'cha looking for?", shirtless guy asked.

"My backpack. My keys are in that thing and I…"

"This thing?"

She turned around seeing him holding her mud covered backpack with two fingers of his free hand and a disgusted look on his face.

"Yes!"

She took a step to grab it from him, overjoyed. Again: Bad idea. Before she knew it she stumbled and fell just to be caught by his other arm this time.

"Oi, don't run in a condition like yours." He helped her to get on her feet again, but his arm stayed around her shoulders to prevent her from falling again.

"Thanks." She took her backpack and tried to clean it a little bit.

"Told ya, y'would get in trouble."

"Whatever.", she said kind of pissed and slapped his hand from her shoulder only to be proven again that she could not even stand without his help. She was stubborn that way.

He caught her again and swept her off of her feet into a princess-is-carried-by-prince position. "Your name was Nojiko, right? So, where do you live?"

Seeing that she had no other choice she reluctantly told him where to go and he carried her home through the rain.

* * *

**So? Tell me what you think? Just leave a review below to make me smile or grow :)**

**Cherry**


	3. The Stranger In Her Bed

_**Hello again my dear and valued readers^^**_

**Yes, yes I'm talking about you. So now that I revised the first chapter TWICE (I wanted to be thorough) it's this one's turn to be inspected for flaws. I want to have your opinions on these revisions, too, by the way. It's important to me that you can read it smoothly without thinking "Why on earth is holding onto the rope with his right hand. Didn't he just have the treasure under that particular arm? WTH?" Or something like that. You catch my drift right? I know you do. You are smart people :)**

**Anyway, I'm rambling again :D **

**ENJOY!**

**Cherry**

* * *

_He caught her again and swept her off of her feet into a princess-is-carried-by-prince position. "Your name was Nojiko, right? So, where do you live?"_

_Seeing that she had no other choice she reluctantly told him where to go and he carried her home through the rain._

* * *

"Thanks for bringing me home 'n' everything."

Nojiko directed the parting words at him after the shirtless guy with the weird hat had put her back on her feet in front of her apartment. She was quite thankful that she did not topple over again and started rummaging through her bag to find the keys. It took a while since she had a lot of stuff packed in the small thing. After she had finally found them she opened the door and walked in. While she was busy taking her shoes off Nojiko noticed that the guy had walked in with her.

"What the heck are you doing in here?"

"Well, you didn't say good bye so I figured I'll just come in with you." He smiled sheepishly. "Besides I need a place to crash tonight anyway."

She turned around both hands on her hipbones cocking her head ever so slightly. "And what makes you think that I'll let a complete stranger stay over like this?"

He walked up to her and bent down so that his face was right in front of hers. That was way too close for her taste. Not that he looked bad, but she had had some very bad experiences with coming that close to a man. But Nojiko was not one to back down easily. His smile turned into a boyish grin.

"Well, I saved your ass, didn't I?"

"So what? I have to pay your beer and that means we're even."

Now he pouted again. "Aw, c'mon, that was worth more than a beer."

'Damn if I say that it was not I'll sound ungrateful. Oh maaaan… I guess I have no choice.'

Nojiko turned around and walked into her living room / bedroom (yeah it's small). "Fine but don't touch any of my stuff. I'm going to take a bath now. If you peek you'll be dead, fella. Capise?"

Shirtless guy's grin got wider. "Alright." And with that he walked into the living room.

* * *

'That was just the best bath of all time!' Nojiko thought when she came out of the bathroom. Her wet hair was not up in a bundle. She did not like that. Her body was rolled up in a towel which covered everything from her chest to her knees. She walked into her room and was startled. 'That son of a seaking is sleeping on MY bed!'

She walked over to the piece of furniture on which her weird savior lay. In this sleeping state he looked even more like a little boy. Nojiko did not waste any time thinking of how he looked. Instead she placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him.

"Hey, you! Wake up, will ya?"

But he would not. To be able to shake him better she sat on the edge of her bed and used both of her hands.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" It did not work. So she started hitting his arm. "You. Are. Not. Sup. Posed. To. Sleep. Here!"

But rather than doing what he was supposed to do shirtless guy put both his arms around Nojiko and pulled her into a tight hug. 'What the…?' She half lay on the man as she tried to free herself and shouted non-stop but it did not help one bit. Even in his sleep he was too strong for her. After a while she got too tired and there was no point in going on anyway. So she made herself as comfortable in his arms as she could.

'He's really knocked out. But at least he's warm. This is actually not so bad. And he looks good, too. … … … But _still_ this is so _not_ how how you're supposed to behave in another person's home for crying out loud.'

And with this last thought she drifted away into sleep.

* * *

Nojiko slowly opened her eyes and her gaze was met by the grinning face of the hugging-in-his-sleep stranger. "Good mornin'. Ya sleep well?"

He still had his left arm around her waist while the other built a triangle with his head which was held by his right hand. His gaze wandered down her body. "But I have to say: If you wanted to sleep with me you should'a said so." He looked back into her eyes and his grin got even wider. "I wouldn't've minded."

Immediately Nojiko looked down at herself and noticed with great shock that her carefully wrapped towel had not only loosened up but somehow lay artfully crumbled behind her on the floor. With a loud "WAAAAAA!" she turned around to grab it and cover herself exposing her backside to him in the process which earned her appreciative "mmh, nice." from the pirate who still had his hand loosely on her waist. Nojiko could basically _hear_ his grin. While still being a little dizzy from just waking up she turned around again with a very pissed expression on her face shoving his hand away.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Dunno. Five minutes perhaps."

"AND IT DIDN'T CROSS TO YOUR MIND TO COVER ME UP?!" She slapped him across the face while screaming the last word. She would have hit him with both hands but the other was just too occupied with holding the towel in place.

He held his cheek. "No, I had already seen it so there was no point."

Nojiko did not know how to react to such simplicity so she stood up and without another word took some clothes out of a drawer and made her way to the bathroom.

After she had changed and put in her red hair band she came back into the room only to see no sign of the stranger. But before her mind could even think he was gone she heard rummaging in the kitchen. She walked over and saw the pirate shoving some raw bacon into his mouth.

"Oi! Didn't I tell you not to touch my stuff?", she said annoyed before throwing her hands up knowing how futile the attempt of educating him about adequate behavior would be. "Oh boy... Just sit down. I'll make breakfast."

Although he looked like a kicked puppy he did what she told him to and sat down on a chair by the little table. Nojiko could not help but think that for a grown man he acted very childish.

It did not take her long to make breakfast. She was rather gifted when it came to cooking as she always had to do that for herself and sometimes Nami since Bellemere had passed away. She put the plates on the table and they started eating.

"Woa! This was really good." The weird one stated after finishing his meal in what seemed like a split second. "You know you should come with me. To the Moby Dick and be one of our cooks."

Nojiko cleared the plates. "I'm sure you have enough cooks."

"The more the merrier." He shrugged.

She laughed and relied while washing the dishes. "Sorry, but you're a total stranger to me. I mean I don't even know your name and…"

"Ace."

"Yeah, but I have a job and I don't really intend on living on a pirate ship, y'know."

"It's not that bad. Actually it's quite fun."

"Still, I decline." She turned around with a smile on her face. "But thanks for the offer."

"Hm. Well, then this is good-bye." Ace stood up.

"Really?" Nojiko asked and raised one eyebrow incredulously not really believing him after he had been persistent enough to first stay the night without being invited and even using her bed to sleep in.

"Really." He imitated her stance. "I've gotta go. I only stopped in this town… to rest a bit before returning to my crew. It's still gonna take me another day to reach them."

"Well then, good-bye, Ace."

"It's been nice. Take care." He waved and grinned one last time before he walked to the small corridor put on his boots and was out of the door.

'That was a rather unusual encounter.', Nojiko thought to herself. She finished cleaning the dishes and was just about to retreat for some light reading as there was still some time before she'd have to start working when her phone started ringing.

"Yes?"

"Nojiko?" A whispering voice asked. "It's Tsuba. Listen there are some pirates in here right now."

That was quite normal for a pub whose location was close to the harbor. This and the fact that Tsuba spoke in a low voice indicated that there was more to it.

"What's up with them? Do you need me to come over?"

"No. Don't come here!" He sounded panicked. "They're actually looking for you. They have a picture of you and asked me if I knew you. A scary bunch. You've not told me much, but if I'm right then you'd better get the hell out of this town."

Upon hearing this Nojiko mind replayed all the images she had sworn to forget. It took her a moment to get back to the present time. "Yeah, I will. Thanks Tsuba. For everything you've done for me."

"It's nothing. Take good care of yourself. I'll call Genzo to let him know."

"No! Don't do that. It'll only worry him. I'll write him a letter as soon as I can. I have to go. Bye"

"Hurry!"

* * *

She ran as fast as she could with her big backpack strapped to her back. Through the smaller streets of the village. Looking left and right whenever there was a chance that someone might see her she sped toward the harbor sheer anxiety driving her to run faster than she ever had.

'I hope they don't find me. I just won't survive it a second time.'

Finally she reached the little harbor and hid behind some wooden boxes. She looked around and immediately saw the ship. The mere sight of it made her want to turn on her heels and dash away into the opposite direction but she managed to stay where she was. She looked to the ship's left. There were no normal ships that had such a great timing as to be leaving right now. She looked to the right. No, there were no ships leaving either. But when she had nearly given up already she saw an orange hat at the end of the footbridge. Without wasting time she ran in that direction.

From behind her she could hear one of the voices she would never forget. "Hey, that's the girl! After her!"

That drove her to what felt like a new speed record never again to be seen by mankind. She ran and after what seemed to be ages she reached Ace who was just about to leave and looked completely surprised as he saw her. His boat was tiny. It was clearly a one-man raft but she had no choice left, for death was mere meters away.

"What…?"

But before he could say more she jumped down to him and clung onto him with her arms and legs which nearly threw the pirate off balance.

"I changed my mind. Let's go." Her voice trembled violently and she buried her head in the crook of his neck. She did not dare to look up but she heard the thundering footsteps of several running men and shouted sentences like 'Over there!' and 'Get her!'.

Her relief was immeasurable when Ace did not ask any questions but simply sped toward the open sea. And when she finally could not hear the shouting anymore Nojiko looked up. There was nothing but water surrounding her and the wind tangled up her in her hair. It felt like pure freedom.

"You simply can't stay out of trouble, can you?"

Nojiko looked into his always grinning face which she could only see from the side and could not help but smile herself. She had managed to slip through their fingers once again, although it had been more of a close call than she would have liked it to be.

"Me? Now where would you get _that_ idea from?"

* * *

**So, now it's your turn. Love it? Hate it? I can't wait for your opinions.**

**3**

**Cherry**


	4. What A Tiny, Tiny Thing

**Wow, you guys rock!**

**It's been two years and I still get reviews on this story. That's major. Thank you. Thank you for your kind words and your persitence. I feel honoured to have such dedicated readers (and with such good taste, too :D). I know this chapter is kind of short and over these past two year I kinda forgot the plot ;) sorryyyy. But I have a new one in mind already. I have written more (not ff though) and have bit more experience, so I hope it plays out for your benefit as readers.  
**

**Thank you and ENJOY 3  
**

**Cherry  
**

* * *

_"You simply can't stay out of trouble, can you?"_

_Nojiko looked into his always grinning face and could not help but smile herself. "Me? Now where would you get _that_ idea from?"_

* * *

They had left the harbor only a few minutes ago, but when Nojiko looked she could not even remotely make out the shape of the island. And there was not even fog that could have explained why she could not see where she had worked the past couple of weeks. The only thing hindering her view when she looked back was her own hair. Although short it was still long enough to send strands like whiplashes to her face and eyes. It was proof of how fast they went on this tiny, tiny ship. If you could even call it that.

Nojiko looked down. She had noticed how small it was before and she assumed her mind must have reacted instinctively by jumping onto the pirates back. For a split second she thought about climbing off of him and getting herself seated somewhere on this little contraption, but the flames burning at Ace's feet made that idea go up in smoke.

"What in the name of the flying dutchman it that?!", she half screeched in surprise while clutching her arms a little tighter on the man's neck and moving her feet and legs a little higher around his upper body. 'I must look like a monkey climbing a tree.', Nojiko thought, off-topic for a moment.

The flames decreased in height and intensity a little while her proverbial tree's face turned to meet hers. "What?", Ace asked her sounding a bit concerned.

"What?", she looked at him not knowing what he wanted to know.

"Yes, 'what?'. You said something."

"Ah, un, yeah. Your feet. They're kinda burning."

He looked at her funny for a moment then laughed as they went faster again. Nojiko did not feel like she was taken serious and it bugged her. She took a closer look at the flames. Either this was some sort of new invention and the flames were not hot at all or she had run into yet another devil fruit (ab)user. She would have liked to get down from his back and stand or sit between him and the stick-like mast, but the flames licked over the deepening making it impossible for her to get down at all.

"HEY!", the woman shouted over the wind. "STOP!"

Immediately the vehicle stopped very abruptly pressing her harder into his incredibly warm skin. "Uff.", she exhaled at the sudden impact.

"What? What's the matter?", he asked sounding concerned again looking around for fiends and foes that were not there shaking her in the process.

Nojiko's world was spinning until she repeated "STOP!" into his ear. She got off as soon as he stood still for a second and leaned against the mast for a moment before facing him. Ace had turned around and looked at her with a quizzical and a bit annoyed look on his face.

"What are we stopping for?"

She looked at him with a glare. "I don't know about you, honey, but I wasn't exactly comfortable traveling like that."

He laughed again. "You should've said so. Sit in front then."

"Hell no, I'll fall off at that speed. How are you even... Did you eat a devil fruit?" She looked up at him watching his grin widen.

"Yep." He held out his fist and when he opened it his palm seemed to be burning. "I ate the mera mera no mi. I'm a fire fighter (stupid pun very much intended )."

She was not phased. "That's great for you. Now, about that little traveling problem."

"Why don't you just stay back there and hold on to the mast?"

"Because my feet will get burned to a crisp and besides this thing looks quite breakable given – again – the speed."

Ace did not even think about it. He grabbed her, turned, put one of his feet on the yellow part of his ship in front of the deepening, sat her on it and while holding her in place he started the engine with his remaining foot. All of this under her struggling and cursing him every name under the sun. And as the wind piped against his ears again drowning her insults, he thought about what weird creatures women were.

* * *

**Yeah, it's short, but sweet (at least I think so). I want to continue this story to the end. YOU can kick my ass into 'Gear Second' by writing a review. If so, then you'll have your next chapter before the end of the week!**

**I hope you liked it :3  
**


	5. Teasing Through Mountains

**Hello again, friend of a friend :3**_  
_

**Well was that fast or what? :) I even reread and partially rewrote chapter 1 and chapter 2 just to make it more readable. If you want I'd love for you to read them again and give me a review on how you think I did. I did not change the story though. It's not necessary for what I have in mind. And _yes_ I have thought out an entirely new plot which I hope you'll like as much as I do.  
**

**As an added bonus I gave the lovely people who wrote those wonderful reviews a preview yesterday night. Thank you again guys. You made working on this chapter all the more fun.  
**

**I will do this again this time around, but be warned: The previews are of the _rough draft_ of a chapter, so don't hold me to anything in there alright? And I can only PM them.  
**

**I also got a PM saying that Nojiko and Ace are rather like Nami and Luffy in my story. Well first of all, I don't really think so. I mean yes, they both still act a little childish while especially Nojiko is described as a rather mature person and Ace is not as polite as we got to meet him in the original series. But I still think that I managed to get their personalities okay. It depends on how you read it. I have to admit that Ace does not talk as casual as he does in my story though. Maybe I'll change that a bit.  
**

**Enough with my random chatter.  
**

**Now READ and ENJOY!**

_**Cherry :)**  
_

* * *

_And as the wind piped up against his ears again drowning her insults, he thought about what weird creatures women were._

* * *

Ace had to admit: This woman had quite the stamina. He had thought she only cursed him out of surprise, but soon learned that even if this had been the case she was of the stubborn sort. The female on his leg had continued her tirade for a good thirty minutes until she had finally run out of offenses and now sat cross-armed and cross-legged where he had put her and sulked without deigning to look at him.

She had even put a bit of space between his upper body and herself despite his arm around her and despite the huge backpack reaching from her head to below her backside. It was beyond him how his former host was able to keep her balance. He simply did not understand why women never traveled without their entire closet present. But then again she had been a waitress so she probably had had some training with keeping her balance in the most ridiculous of situations.

She was very amusing though, he thought. One minute she was levelheaded and friendly, the next she threw a fit, and the one after that she behaved like a kid that had lost her parents in a store. He found it entertaining and although he had had to tune her out for about half an hour there not too long ago he itched to push her buttons again. Ace did not know why but it was plain fun riling her up like that.

"Yo, are you gonna keep ignorin' me?", he inquired with a grin on his face.

She did. Very much so indeed. His grin widened a bit and he went on. "You know it's at least another seven hours till we reach the Moby. With all due respect I don't think you can keep ya mouth closed that long."

That got her attention. She turned her neck to face him raising her fine line of a left eyebrow as if to say 'You wanna bet?'.

Ace laughed. "It's true and I still haven't heard a 'Thanks' from you."

At this the brow wandered up even a little further. It looked a bit scary so he elaborated."For savin' ya butt twice now."

Immediately her angry looks toward him vanished. She looked at her feet and seemed to be mad at herself. She even pouted although he was sure she was not aware of it. To change her mood again he continued looking at the horizon while he said:

"No worries though. Savin' little maidens in distress is my daily bread", he told her in fake bored tone as if it was truly a nuisance he ha to deal with every day.

Her head shot up again and she glared daggers at him. "'Little maidens'?"

The young pirate looked down at her. "In distress.", he verified completely serious while fighting his urge to smirk at the blue haired woman.

"In distress?", Nojiko repeated in a dangerously low voice.

He could not contain his grin any longer. So Ace played his trump card. "Yep, an' like I said: Can't keep ya mouth closed." He had bent forward and whispered the last bit into her ear.

This obviously flipped a switch inside her. "Why you little..." And as she had already used up her certain vocabulary to a point where it seemed too dull a thing to repeat it all again she simply hit him in the chest while he laughed.

* * *

She was not really mad at him and had to smile a bit after punching him. Nojiko still felt a little bad for not thanking him though. Her happiness about being free and the sudden change in seating arrangements had had her mind quite occupied. When shocked, she was one to easily drop a few words here and there, but she only continued for that long and turned away, because a blush had crept on her face and she simply did not want him to notice it.

'Why can't that stupid pirate wear a shirt? Or at least _something _to cover himself up with? I doubt he would die of a heat stroke.', she thought unhappily. 'And why in the name of Roger's frisky undies do I think about that?!'

Ace had stopped laughing at her but seemed quite pleased with himself. They had both been quiet for a few minutes now and Nojiko turned to face the sea in front of them. She had one hand on his knee and the other on his covered leg close to his hip bone. His arm was still around her back and his hand rested on her waist as to make sure the weight of her luggage would not make her fall into the ocean.

She found it uncomfortable. The young woman would have rather sat the way she would ride a horse with one leg on each side of his and her feet patted firmly to the tiny boat so she could be more secure of her own balance, but that would not have worked as her backpack was just too huge and would be in the way of his leg and his view. And who knew where they would end up then. She felt good though. The wind in her hair felt wonderful and the view was breath taking. She did not even mind the occasional spray.

They raced over the water in silence for a few hours each of them being in their own little world until the red line came into view. Nojiko was stunned. The island where she had worked was at least one week away from here by ship. That much she was sure of. This little contraption was truly amazing, she thought.

She turned her face toward his. "Your crew's ship is behind the red line, right?"

"Yeah.", he answered a tad too loud, though she could not blame him. The wind made it kind of hard to know just how loud you had to be for the other to hear you.

"How are we gonna get there?"

"Easy. There's a tunnel. It's not big enough for a normal ship but if the tide is right we can make it through."

"Why didn't the marines seize it?"

"I don't think they know about it. It's right beside the left side of the calm belt. I only found it a few weeks ago myself."

"Isn't that kinda dangerous then? So close to all those seakings?"

"Why? A little snack in between never hurt anybody.", he stated as if that was the most normal thing in the world to say.

She laughed. He was definitely weird. Weird but funny. Most of the time.

It did not take long until she could see what he had meant. There was truly a tunnel hidden behind a formation of rocks on the right side of the gaping hole. She had not even seen it until they were almost inside. Ace slowed the vehicle down tremendously and it was good that he did. The tide was not all that low it seemed and they had to be careful or otherwise would have hit their heads on various occasions.

It took about one hour until the tide was low enough for them to speed up again. And when they exited after another twenty minutes the sun had begun to set.

"It won't be long now.", Ace said and she noticed the pleasant anticipation in his voice.

True to his word the huge whale-like appearance of a ship could be made out before the sun had completely vanished behind the horizon.

When they got closer Nojiko noticed how huge it actually was and could hear some shouts from the ship that sounded like some sort of welcoming. It did not take them long to reach the Moby Dick and when they finally stopped at its side she looked at Ace.

"Hey..." She stood up from his leg and turned to look at him.

"Yeah?" The fire man looked back having just called someone on deck Rapunzel and told them to let down their hair. She could hear a 'Yeah,yeah, stupid baka.' from the guy he had obviously been talking to.

"I don't like to be indebted to someone. So, if I can ever help you with something, just holler okay?"

His face changed into a grin again. "Will do. If I ever need someone profusely insulted you'll be the first to know.", he said while catching one end of a rope from above and fastening the raft to the ship. "You ready?"

She was confused. "Ready for what?" Her voice grew more suspicious with every word as the edges of his mouth tried to reach his ears in a wide and somewhat evil looking smirk of a person who was about to play a practical joke on someone with a weak heart.

In a split second he had his arm around her behind while his shoulder dug into her abdomen and he jumped up to the main deck. Only he did not jump as much as it felt like he had been catapulted into the air. It did not last long but Nojiko could see his calves and feet being on fire and therefore the reason for her stomach doing flips – not the happy kind – and her backpack nearly falling into the now black water beneath her.

Luckily Ace did not let her fall when they landed on the ship but held her over his shoulder. He laughed again as his crew mates started to come up to the two of them. Not that she noticed. "So, how was it?"

"I feel sick." She had meant it as a joke but as she heard herself say it she noticed feeling a little queasy.

He laughed again. "You keep saying that when you're in my arms. You're weird."

"_I'm _weird?! Have you looked in the mirror lately, you..."

Her luggage chose that precise moment to drop from her arms onto the ground hitting her head in the process.

"Ow!", she said before realizing something other than her hurting skull. "Oh no. Oh, no. Oh, no no no no no!" She struggled to get off of Ace.

"My tangerine tree!" This seemed to surprise her captor "Your what?" and in a moment of his confusion she rolled down his back and managed to land on her feet. She immediately went to her backpack.

She opened it to check if her tree was still alright. Ace simply gaped at her before finding his ability to speak. "Waida second. You mean to tell me that you brought a friggin' _tree _with ya?!"

* * *

**I'm already working on the 5th chapter. You want a_ preview_? Come on and _review_ :3**

**Cherry - a woman that's no good at jokes and rhymes :,(**


	6. Meet Mustache Master And Sons

_**Hello my dear readers,**_

_**IMPORTANT: (everything important is in capital letters for all you lazy ones ;D)  
**_

**yes, yes I know it took me a little looonger than promised to submit this chapter. I have a very good excuse though: We have BETA READER now! So yes, the search for a good beta reader took longer than I thought, but I am very happy now that I've found one. And of course after that we worked on this chapter's finishing thouches.**

**I have one more suprise for you though: I MADE A FORUM to this story. Add this to the usual ( double you double you double you dot fan fiction dot net ) : _/forum/The-ABF-Forum/118301/_ Check it out if you like. You can make your own topics and discuss whatever you like as long as you don't swear or say nasty things.**

**Currently I am working on the next chapter. I'm about half done there (excluding the beta reading) and I'm just having soooooo much fun. I can't wait for you to read it. Like always those of you who review get a little bit of the rough draft of the next chapter in advance. So read, tell me what you think, but most of all (as always)  
**

**ENJOY!  
**

**Cherry  
**

* * *

_She opened it to check if her tree was still alright. Ace simply gaped at her before finding his ability to speak. "Waida second. You mean to tell me that you brought a friggin' _tree _with ya?!"_

* * *

Nojiko did not seem to hear him. She started to pry the rather big item out of her bag. It shed a few leaves in the process. When she had finally managed to situate it upright in its little kettle she went on to inspect it from every angle. There was an obvious frown on her face when she saw that one of the branches on top was broken due to the unfortunate landing.

While Ace still felt like his jaw had dropped a few inches Thatch came up behind him putting a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome back. I see you finally convinced a lady of your iffy qualities."

The black haired young man looked over said shoulder not even really listening to what the older pirate had said. "She brought a tree." he stated truly baffled at the sight and then asked no one in particular: "Who on earth takes a tree with them while running for their lives?"

"I do." the woman answered him matter-of-factually. "And if it'd been broken you would've had to pay."

She walked over to both of them and put forth her hand in Thatch's direction. "Heya, I'm Nojiko."

Thatch took his hand off of Ace's shoulder and shook it. "Nice to meet you. My name's Thatch. I'm the commander of the fourth division of the Whitebeard pirates." He smiled and she deemed him to be one of the affable types.

She smiled at him. "Nice to meet you, too."

He let her hand go and turned to speak to Ace again, but he was interrupted when a few more of the crew's members came up to greet their returnee. "Oi, Ace!" said a rather large man with a booming voice and a few missing teeth. "I see you got yourself a pretty girlfriend."

Another voice belonging to someone walking next to him in a purple jacket and with blonde hair questioned his theory. "Don't just go around assuming things, Teach." The little group of three reached Nojiko, Ace and Thatch. The man turned to Nojiko. "Don't listen to him. I'm Marco by the way and these two are Teach and Jozu." He held his hand up in what seemed like a friendly half waving and half pointing at the others.

"Hi, I'm Nojiko." she smiled again. These guys seemed alright for a bunch of pirates.

The last of the three – obviously called Jozu – was one huge man. Outshining even the one called Teach next to him. He looked a bit unsocial and gruff, but spoke next nonetheless. "You're not his girlfriend." he stated without indicating if he found this a good or a bad thing.

"No, no.", Nojiko said with her hands up defensive her smile turning somewhat awkward. "I'm just someone who jumped a ride."

Ace laughed. "Literally."

"Say, how about a feast to celebrate your return? Guys, what do you think?" Thatch said loudly so that everyone in earshot could hear him.

His suggestion was met with enthusiastic approval from the crew. Nojiko saw Marco shaking his head smiling. "How long has he been gone for?" she asked him.

"A week." her interlocutor grinned "We like to party." He started walking away, probably to make preparations for the upcoming drinking session and nearly tripped over Ace whose narcolepsy had obviously gotten the better of him. She was not even sure he heard about the boozy session in his honor. None of the pirates seemed to mind the sleeping body that lay face down on the wooden planks. They simply stepped over him and kept on walking.

Suddenly Nojiko remembered something. She did not know where she would sleep tonight and it might be better to put her stuff away before the drinking bout began. In a new environment one could never be sure how these things ended. Someone could get the horrid idea of doing it like a dog and start using her precious item as a public urinal.

She grabbed the arm closest to her. It belonged to the man with the booming voice and missing teeth. Teach. "Hey, I'm sorry but do you think I could stay the night?" she asked.

The man looked at her for a moment and then spent the next twenty seconds laughing before replying. "Sure ya can sweetie." he said grinning at her. "I only got one bed though." He winked at her playfully and Nojiko could not help but laugh.

"I don't think you can handle me." she retorted which in turn made him laugh again before he spoke. "Sure, sure."

"Seriously though. I don't want people abusing my tree just because they're drunk or somethin'." she said getting back to topic.

"Talk to the commander. You're his guest. But I don't think it'll be a problem. We always have a few spare rooms in each divisions quarters for newbies.", Teach told her while pointing at Ace with his thumb who Nojiko thought just did not look like someone who could take care of anybody but himself much less an entire division.

"Doesn't look like he'll be answering me anytime soon. No matter what I'll ask." she stated looking down at the pirate who slept on the floor without a care in the world. She nudged him with her foot a little and only got a loud snore in response as if to prove her point.

"No worries." A voice from behind her said. It was Marco. He looked at Teach. "Take her stuff to one of the free rooms. I gotta get her to pops. He wants to meet her."

"Sure, no problem." Teach answered as if happy to serve. 'No that's not it.' Nojiko thought. 'It's much more like in Cocoyashi village. As if everyone is just helping to keep the flow of things good and smooth.'

She was a little stunned that a pirate crew could work that way, too. The only pirates she had known were either barked at one another to do something or did just what they wanted at all times. She was just about to drift off into other thought spheres again when Marco called her name from a little farther than she had his voice expected to be. "Oi, Nojiko, hurry up. Our captain wants to meet you."

There was such a familiarity with which he spoke her name (in Japanese: without -san, -chan, - kun, -sama etc.) that she really followed without even thinking about it for a second. It truly was the weirdest feeling, but for some reason she did not resent it.

* * *

When he woke up Ace's head flew up which made one of his comrades trip and fall over it. After a mumbled apology he looked around and saw none of the people who had formerly stood around him. He stood up and walked towards his old man to tell him the information he had gathered. It took him about five minutes to reach the rather spacious main deck. To his surprise nearly everyone was already there. It was not a rare occasion to see Whitebeard surrounded by many of his children but this many were usually only present at fights or parties. What was even weirder was that most of them were quiet.

He soon saw the reason why and heard it, too. "My name is Nojiko and I'm _not_ his 'little souvenir'." she said sounding annoyed.

Izo who stood next to Whitebeard and had obviously called her Ace's bring along replied in an amused voice with his hand very ladylike in front of his mouth. "Sure, honey. Keep telling yourself that."

Before the situation could get any worse Edward Newgate himself spoke. "And what brings you here Nojiko?"

She looked up at him. "I had to run from someone and flambeau..." Ace just knew how badly she wanted to say 'payed me back for crashing the night by taking me away from there' but bit it down in order not to have Izo on her case even more than he already was. "... helped me." she managed the save.

"Ah, so my son did something good." Whitebeard smiled contently and Ace's chest filled with warm satisfaction at the pride in the old man's words.

SWITCH:

'His son?!' "You son?" she asked not sounding half as curious as she thought she would have. 'Whitebeard has a son?'

"Yes," the mountain of a man answered, "Ace is my son. All of these men on this ship and in our alliances are my sons."

"Or daughters!" Izo exclaimed apparently very upset about the issue.

"Yes, yes." the legendary pirate replied with a face and voice as if he had heard it a million times.

'No wonder they come across so very much unlike any other pirate crew I've encountered.' Nojiko thought. 'The atmosphere here is really warm and friendly. Luffy's crew is like that, too, but they are simply friends. But this feels different. Just completely different. They are not a group who were just newly formed and are still in the process of getting to know how to work together. These are people who have probably known each other for decades. This truly is nothing short of a family.' She remembered the little scene between Teach and Marco from before and smiled. She could not help saying it out loud. "They are, aren't they? I never though pirates could be like that."

The word 'pirates' had come out with a sharp edge to it that the blue haired women had not intended to put there. She bit her lower lip. It was understandable from her point of view that underneath everything there was still no forgetting the hell that Arlong's crew and the other one had put her through.

She looked up when the huge man in front of her spoke once again. "So, you don't like pirates." he said not looking the least bit bothered by it. When he spoke again it was in a very I-just-want-to-know-what-I'm-dealing-with manner. "You a marine fan than?"

Visions of marine captain Nezumi of the 16th branch in the East Blue invaded her mind, who had taken Nami's money, collaborated with Arlong, and shot her. It took her a moment to wipe the disgusted look of her face remembering that Bellemere had also been a marine once.

"I would say there are very different kinds of people no matter what their label might be." she answered true to her feelings about the matter.

Whitebeard smiled at her. But it was different from before. It was knowing. He smiled as if he knew what she had thought about and accepted her for it. "I see," His tone was warm and very fatherly, "Well Nojiko, you are welcome to stay here as long as you like. Now, have a drink with us!"

The vibrations of his vocal chords in his last sentence seemed to roll over the entire ship catching and infecting the crew who roared loudly switching instantly into party-mode. Nojiko felt them go through her body as well. It somehow made her happy to be acknowledged by this living legend whose name was known far and wide throughout the seas.

* * *

**Hmm? Hmmmmmmm? You're thinking something :) Tell me :D**


	7. DisDa Diamond & Narcolepsy Boy

**Hey guys,**

**I know it took me FOREVER to write this. Well not actually to write it. It was written really quickly. But then my beta has a life and I have one - or something that resembles it :P. Anyways, I really enjoyed your comments. ALL of them. It makes my writersheart flutter with hope that I might actually sell if I am ever able to finish my book (yes I am writing a book. No, I've got no idea if it's gonna fly).  
**

**Nothing much else to say here except for: I hope you  
**

**ENJOY  
**

**it.  
**

**Lots of love,  
**

**Cherry  
**

* * *

_The vibrations of his vocal chords in his last sentence seemed to roll over the entire ship catching and infecting the crew who roared loudly switching instantly into party-mode. Nojiko felt them go through her body as well. It somehow made her happy to be acknowledged by this living legend whose name was known far and wide throughout the seas._

* * *

While the crew brought wine, beer and other sorts of booze to the main deck Edward Newgate looked more closely at his son's new friend. She teetered a little on her feet and seemed unsure of what to do now that she had introduced herself.

He thought it to be quite funny, that she behaved like a shy newbie pirate although she seemed to dislike them. The old man knew from experience that every soul wandering this earth had a story to tell and he could pretty much guess that some pirate had caused the girl pain. But that was nothing special in this day and age with as many pirates running around as there were stars in the sky it was rather inevitable that some of them lost their morals or did not have any to begin with.

As far as he could tell she was not too fond of the Marines either and that was probably for the same reason she hated pirates. They had become more and more corrupt with each passing year. Luckily Sengoku was still the fleet admiral. But who knew how long he would still hold that position and who would be his successor.

Whitebeard looked around, seeing his children being busy preparing and partially already starting the party, before his gaze found Ace making his way over to him. He was really kind of proud of the kid who otherwise was mostly known for his pranks, strength and narcoleptic habit. The boy was a good kid. He had made his way from an unknown rookie always boasting about being able to defeat everyone to an outstanding pirate who was worth every cenny of his 550 million berry bounty. A few years back he had tried to kill Whitebeard countless times and the captain had to admit that the smaller pirate came close to scratching him once or twice.

Now that he had actually been with the crew for more than two years and had trained with every one of them, including Whitebeard, the kid could hurt him if he decided to do so. He knew most of Whitebeard's moves and attacks by heart.

When Ace had reached his father's side Whitebeard looked down at him more seriously and asked, "Well, what did you find out?"

* * *

Ace sighed. "It sucks that Moria is a warlord. We'll have the entire navy on our asses if we interfere with his plans now."

"Don't be so sure about that," Marco told him. He had taken his seat next to Whitebeard before the beginning of the conversation and others like Thatch had joined in a few sentences ago, "He most likely does this without the marines knowing about it. And even if they know, they cannot openly protect what he does or people would lose their trust in them."

"They don't need the people's trust," Ace countered, "Just wait. Soon enough they'll reign over everyone solely based on fear."

Thatch scratched the back of his head in thought. "He's got a point. There have been more reports of the marines acting quite harshly towards normal citizens recently."

"No. I know Sengoku," Whitebeard said, "As long as he is their fleet admiral..."

"That's what I'm saying," Ace interjected. He sat on the wooden planks in front of the old pirate and just like the other commanders there he held a beer in hand, "Up until now the only reason the navy has been able to juggle the warlords, the celestial dragons, and the people IS Sengoku. But they have no control over the Yonko or the other pirates which is why ultras like Akainu are gaining more and more sympathizers."

"Akainu," Whitebeard laughed heartily, "that brat will never seize the position of the fleet admiral. If the higher ups have so much as only one brain cell left in their heads they'll never let him of all people have more power than he already does. They have not forgotten the rumors about the … incident."

Ace looked up. "What incident?"

"Didn't you hear?" Thatch said truly surprised but then seemed to find an explanation for it. "Maybe it's 'cause you haven't been around long enough. It was like what?" he looked at the others, "fifteen to twenty years ago?"

They nodded and he continued. "Akainu wasn't a big shot like he is now. Just a captain stationed at some small country on the Grand Line. Back then he had only just gotten his devil fruit powers but was an ass anyway. People say he behaved like a dictator. Killing people who sympathized with pirates or simply disobeyed his orders. When he heard that he would be promoted soon he used some random pirates who were on the island at the time as an excuse to start an all-out war. He took advantage of the confusion and chaos and killed every single person no matter if they were a pirate, a marine, or just a normal citizen. That includes the children. So that no one could tell of his cruelty and therefore stand in the way of his success. And that... Hey!"

"Mmmmh, what?"

"Don't fall asleep just 'cause you think it's boring. You were the one who wanted to know about it in the first place."

"It was a narcoleptic attack."

"U-huh, sure." Thatch looked a little pissed that his story telling abilities were disregarded like that. But Thatch was not one to hold a grudge for very long and Ace knew that. Come the next fight they would be like brothers again.

He let his eyes wander through the crowd of laughing, drinking, singing, and dancing people. Ace spotted Nojiko who had previously been asked by Vista to dance a slow waltz with him had switched partners and was currently dancing the jive with Jozu. Vista had abandoned dancing for drinking all together and sat with some members of his division. He let his index finger and thumb slid over one end of his mustache over and over while he spoke.

Jozu was not a very good dancer and looked quite grim which seemed to amuse Nojiko to no end. He looked to the couple's right where Izo whispered something into Haruta's ear while pointing at the guest. He probably said something nasty. Ace did not really care what Izo did or said. Most of his interaction with the transgendered commander concerned said one's lipstick. The fire man had stolen it once or twice and used it to write things like;

'Marco,

Last night was soooo much fun.

Love,

your dearest Izo-chan'

on the bathroom mirror and returning it afterward saying something along the lines of "It's not really my shade," with a big smirk on his face.

He looked a bit more to the right and found what he had been searching for. His gaze zeroed in on it: Food.

Ace instantly jumped up and sprinted towards it. In his mind anyone could devour all of it the way he intended to at any given moment. It is what happens when you are raised by a pack of bandits who do not leave scraps of food for you even if you are just a kid if you are not fast enough. So although he was grown up, as soon as he registered food his mind shut out anything surrounding him. Not things, noises, or even a pair of dancing people crossing the fastest path to the delicacies.

He bumped into Jozu with such force that both of them flew for a second before they landed, crashing three of the fifteen tables with edibles on them in the process. Both of them were covered in food which Ace did not mind at all.

"Tze tze tze," Ace sat up cross-legged rubbing the back of his head with one of his hands while the other was holding a pineapple that had soared into the sky particularly high and he had had to catch it before it landed on his face. He looked at the mess before he continued, "Jozu, that hurt."

It was clear that the taller pirate tried to look down on him in a condescending manner, but that failed tragically due to his upside down position. So first he sat himself upright before stating the obvious. "You did this."

Ace looked up. "It was all Marco's idea." he stated while pointing at the pineapple.

The commander with the peculiar haircut stood only a few feet away and shouted. "Oi, Ace. Not funny!"

But the logia user ignored him. He looked at Jozu intensely, then at the pineapple which he now held to his ear and then back at Jozu. "He says you look like a stupid monkey, too."

* * *

Marco himself had started to walk over as soon as he had seen Ace dashing off. He was always quite worried when that guy came near food while he had not eaten anything yet. Then when narcolepsy boy and a girl's best friend had basically trashed one fifth of it that worry had only increased and so did his walking pace.

He did not hear every word of the conversation the two of them had but when he reached Nojiko who was standing in front of the whole scene he heard his name and saw the fruit. There was not really much left open to interpretation. The bluenette next to him apparently tried her very best to suppress her laughter but it was all too evident on her face.

"Is it that funny?" the corners of his mouth twitched a little.

"No," she managed to get out. But then she had to chuckle, "it's just that I thought you kind of resembled a pineapple when I first saw you."

"Oh," he put on his usual expression which was bored. Behind that look something boiled in him though, "and here I thought it was 'What a stud.'"

She looked up at him with her right hand placed on her heart her expression mocking him mercilessly. "That was the second thought. Of course."

Slowly a sly grin emerged from his mouth and spread over his face. "Just you wait."

"For what?" she said not laughing anymore.

"Just wait till we find something to tease you with, tree hugger girl."

"Tree hugger girl, hmm? Well it's a little long but I..."

Before she could finish her sentence Ace interfered. "Yo, tree hugger girl."

"What?" she said turning in the direction of the voice only to be completely surprised by Jozu who was sitting right in front of her. "Holy crap!" Nojiko had taken an involuntary step back. He was tied up with rope that had something resembling a bow in front.

Then Ace emerged from behind Jozu. "This is my gift to you, newcomer. You wanted me to pay the beer, right? This should more than cover it."

It seemed to utterly confuse Nojiko at which Marco had to grin. "Oi oi, don't go around exchanging Jozu again."

"Why on earth would you pay with a human? Why would I even want one?"

"Well, he can do manual labor for you, he dances like a monkey and best of all: He's shiny," Ace face split into a wide grin at the last word, "Show her, carat kid."

"I'll show you something, alright."

And with that he started to shift half his body to become diamond while he swung his left arm back freeing him from the rope. He tried to hit the other devil fruit user with his truly sparkling fist.

Marco looked at Nojiko who seemed to have understood now just what Ace had wanted to pay her with. Just as he wanted to pick up their conversation again Vista popped up right behind them.

"Nojiko," he grabbed her wrist and started twirling her around to a fast samba beat as he spoke, "dance with me."

The commander of the first division of the Whitebeard pirates shrugged before he looked at the crew. He grinned as he saw them all getting more drunk by the minute and then decided to return to Thatch and Whitebeard who had been joined by Izo, Haruta and Teach. All of them were having a heated discussion about who would win a sake drinking contest: Whitebeard or Shanks?

* * *

Whilst Marco entertained the idea of simply leaning back and enjoying the show – Haruta was just about ready to rip Thatch's head off for thinking Shanks could outdrink her beloved captain - Nojiko desperately tried to keep up with Vista.

They had danced a slow waltz before but now the two of them salsaed and cha-cha-chaed all over the main deck. In the beginning it had been fairly simple as there was a make shift band providing a steady pace. But the now hammered commander disregarded it soon enough. It seemed like the more his alcohol level increased so did the speed of his movements. Nojiko had a very hard time keeping up with him. It was fun, but after half an hour her muscles felt tense and her body heavy. All she could see was a swirl of colors and she felt as if she had been thrown into a pandemonium. Suddenly one of her legs gave out and she tripped over it backwards with the other just to land quite ungracefully on her butt. Vista looked at her while she was a little shocked from the sudden impact and then they both burst out laughing.

"Hey I'm sorry, but I need a break," she excused herself as she got up and brushed the dirt from her behind, "and a beer for that matter."

Vista took the right end of his mustache and rubbed it between his thumb and his index finger. "Very well, it has been my pleasure."

Nojiko smiled and walked over to the pyramid of beer kegs.

After a few beers and a long conversation with Haruta, who had had to distance herself from Thatch in order not to hit him, she switched her beaker for a glass of wine and decided to take a stroll around the less noisy areas of the ship.

It was a very beautiful and starry night and the further she got away from the crowd the calmer she got. She walked all the way to the stern of the Moby and sat down against the railing. She crossed her right leg over her left and lay her head against the angular wood closing her eyes. Nojiko could hear the faint noises from the party and the loose parts of the tied shortened sails which swayed back and forth when a light puff flew around the ship.

She loved the feeling of the wind on her skin. The way the gusts of air twirled around her nose like a fairy ballerina making her shiver ever so slightly. She had done this a lot back at home. Just lying next to Bellemere's grave, looking at the stars in the sky and feeling the wind from the sea caressing her senses. To Nojiko this was peace.

Endless peace. She treasured these moments. They were not something she wanted to be disturbed at. Especially not by a tall shadow swinging down from the rigging.

Nojiko felt like her bones froze over when the figure landed two steps away from her. Her heart seemed to hammer faster. It felt like time slowed down as images flicked through her mind and her fear sifted into a strong will to fight.

* * *

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	8. Of Heels And Maps And Mystery Lockets

**_Hello my rays of sunshine ^^_**

**__So i know this took a tad longer than I anticipated, buuuuut that is because work and uni have me fully occupied right now. Still I wanted you to have a new chapter and even though it is not beta read this one is my christmas and newyears gift for you guys. I am so happy and flattered by your responses and I am also pretty happy that none of you guessed right who the dark figure was. Anyway, I love how some of you PMed me insisting that I hurry.  
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**You guys MAKE this story happen!  
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**ENJOY  
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**Love,  
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**Cherry  
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* * *

_Endless peace. She treasured these moments. They were not something she wanted to be disturbed at. Especially not by a tall shadow swinging down from the rigging. _

_Nojiko felt like her bones froze over when the figure landed two steps away from her. Her heart seemed to hammer faster. It felt like time slowed down as images flicked through her mind and her fear sifted into a strong will to fight. _

* * *

When the shadow made a step toward her she instantly let go of the glass, grabbed the rail above her left shoulder, and with the help of her right foot and both of her arms she push-pulled herself up very fast turning in the process. Her leg swung upward in a half circle. She put all of her strength in it and then her heel connected with the stranger's side.

The impact of her attack drained the air out of the figure loudly and sent him rotating through the air toward the sea at the side of the stern.

When a ray of light, shining from the main deck, hit him Nojiko saw who it was. Black hair, black boots, black shoes, a red beaded necklace and a large tattoo on his back: Ace.

Immediately she ran to stop him but it was too late as she saw him drop over the Moby Dick's side flashing her one last stunned glance before he did. She kept running to the edge of the ship fully prepared to jump into the water to save the devil fruit user (she had sent to drown) when suddenly she heard "Hiken!" and Ace came flying upward his outstretched arm shooting a beam of fire at the water surface.

He landed gracefully behind her. "You're pretty though," he said rubbing his side thoughtfully, "Why'd you kick me though? I just wanted to say 'Hi'."

She walked over to him. "I'm sorry. Really. I didn't recognize you without your hat." she said sitting down where she had been earlier. She noticed her glass next to her which curiously had landed on its foot somehow. She picked it up and took a sip to calm her still fluttering heart.

He sat down next to her cross-legged and grinned at her. "No worries. Nothing happened and by the way, you win."

"Win what?" she asked confused at the statement.

"Our bet. That you can send me flying like the other pirates." he smiled and she had to grin as well. "Well it's what I told you, isn't it."

"Should've believed you I guess. Thank you for the demonstration." He mockingly bowed a little.

"It was my pleasure." she replied although she remembered that it had not been all that fun when she thought he was someone else. Getting back to reality she changed the subject. "So, what about your hat?"

He shrugged. "Jozu stole it. He always gets upset about little things when he's had a beer. No fun, that guy."

"I think it's legitimate to get angry in that situation."

"Why?"

"Well, you did unexpectedly ram him into a food stand and insulted him afterward."

"I did say sorry later. It's not that big of a deal really. Happens here a lot. Stealing my hat however..."

"Yeah, sure, that's worse of course."

"Nah, not really. But I feel kind of wrong without it." He sighed as if he was thinking of all the good times he and his hat had had.

Nojiko chuckled. 'What a weird guy.'

Then suddenly without any warning he sat up straight as if lightning had struck him and turned to her. "Come on," he said in a warm voice grinning at her. Her grabbed her wrist, got up which only left her with the option of getting up as well, "I want to show you something."

* * *

She had expected gold. She had expected money. She even had expected jewelry and weapons. She had definitely not expected to stand in a room full of old maps and boxes. The chamber was dimly lit by two candles Ace had inflamed when he had opened the door. He had walked in before her and turned when they reached the middle of the square compartment and smiled. "This is pop's greatest treasure."

"This is a room for a navigator." Nojiko stated.

"He used to be one," Ace answered the unspoken question. "When he was young he studied the oceans and when he set out to see he was hired by a crew to be their contracted navigator. He always says that that kind of presumably righteous life seemed twisted to him and during a mutiny he stole all their maps and later formed a pirate crew which became the Whitebeard pirates."

Nojiko walked around looking at all the different maps. There were so many different ones. Nami would sure have been able to tell were Edward Newgate had been but Nojiko herself was not gifted that way and had no idea how to distinguish or read them. She walked around the room a little more. She passed some boxes which she itched to open but did not out of respect.

"Let's go," she said after a few minutes. "I don't feel comfortable prying in some else's life."

Ace nodded but said "I like to come here and look at some of the places I'd like to visit someday." and touched one of the maps on the wall very delicately with his right index finger.

They were about to leave when Nojiko accidentally knocked a miniature wooden chest from a larger one. It hit the floor behind her with a loud 'clonk' and the lid opened releasing everything that was inside. She turned around and bent down to put the items back where they belonged. But then she looked closer at what had fallen out of the caste. It was a locket and a previously opened envelope made from what looked like very high quality paper. Nojiko's focus zeroed in on the locket and she picked it up. It was silver and had beautiful embellishments on the front side. It seemed eerily familiar to her. But she could not pinpoint where she had seen it. A lonely image of the silhouette of a woman drifted through her mind. Her hands acted and before she registered it they had opened the locket and she stared at the two pictures inside.

* * *

Whitebeard looked up when the blue haired girl walked straight up to him Ace right behind her. The boy cast glances at the girl with a worried and partially cautious gaze. She however looked calm. Only her eyes seemed ablaze and frozen at the same time. Now that he looked closer he could see the tension in her muscles and the way she clung to the little box inside her hand so hard that her knuckles turned white. He recognized the small item and had to laugh remembering its content and seeing who held it.

It was not a drunk laugh although he had had a few bottles of sake. It also was not the way someone would laugh at a funny joke. It was the way Edward Newgate laughed when there was a weight lifted from his heart.

Of course Nojiko did not know this as she could not see what went on inside his mind nor knew him long enough to distinguish his expressions and behavior. But she did not show any signs of being offended by is laughter. The bluenette just walked up to him in long and fast strides and anyone near Whitebeard anxious and tense. At least those who had not passed out yet or were close to it.

She stopped a few feet away from him. Ace however walked past her and sat next to Marco and Thatch. "Can we talk?" she spoke calmly but it was quite obvious that it was more of a rhetorical question that would not allow "No." for an answer.

"Yes," the old captain said having stopped laughing, "but not now. We'll talk tomorrow." Nojiko looked at him calmly but did not move. Her eyes had lost some of their earlier sharpness. Although he knew it had never been anger in the first place. "Tomorrow I'll give you all the answers that I have."

* * *

Ace looked at the woman. He could guess that she really wanted to talk now. The way she had started to shiver intensely when she had picked up the locked and the way her eyes had looked when she had turned to him and started walking out of the room box in hand. As if they had been glazed over with steel. A minute passed and she still did not move. Ace pushed himself up again and walked over to her. Standing diagonally in front of her he put a hand on her shoulder while facing the empty space behind her. "Let's go," he tried to push her a little so she would turn around but she would not budge. He sighed and tried a different approach, "You know where your room is for tonight?"

He could see that see cast her eyes down. Away from the old man. "No. The guy over there," she nodded her head to Whitebeard's left and Ace turned around just in time to see who she meant, "I think his name was Teach, or something. He took my stuff somewhere."

"Oi, Teach. Where's..." he started but his subordinate had already guessed the question, "It's the one on the left next to yours."

Ace thought about how his room was a corner room. There was a corridor next to it. He settled for figuring it out when he got there. "Okay, thanks. Have a nice one guys. Night pops."

There was some mumbled answering from most of the guys and when he walked away Nojiko followed him.

* * *

"You okay?" he glanced over his shoulder. They were now below deck and had just passed the first division's quarters.

"Yes. I just have to think about some things." she said. Her voice continued to be as steady as she had expected it to be. She was not mad and not really all that confused. But somehow this was tugging at her stomach and she could not help but wanting to know all about it.

"You can tell me, you know," the commander in front of her said, "I could listen to... "

"No." she interrupted him, "Thank you. But no. It's not a big thing."

"Okay." he said not sounding offended in any way.

They walked into another corridor which was a tad smaller than the one the first division had but also a little bit cleaner. Ace liked the fact that nearly every division was larger in quantities than the second one. It made him feel like his men knew each other just that little bit better that could mean life or death in certain situations.

Most of the rooms were stacked with beds and hammocks for the multiple pirates who inhibited one room. There was no real privacy here for most of the men which was the reason there was almost always a fight somewhere. Now that he thought about it Ace could not remember having a spare room in his division. Sure, other divisions had spare rooms, but here every room was taken by more than just one person. Only he himself had a little corner room for himself. And that only happened because Teach had insisted on it.

He did not even know if there was a room on the left side of his quarters.

The corridor made a right and he stopped. Nojiko who had still been in her own little world bumped into his back. He heard her say something that seemed more like a sound of surprise but did not really focus on that. His mind was on the door that led to his room which was only a few feet away and the door to his right. She could not sleep in that room.

* * *

**So? What kind of a room could that be that makes Ace think Nojiko could not sleep there? And what could Whitebeard have to tell her? And what is in that letter and that locked that have Nojiko all confused?**

**I just noticed how full of cliffhangers this one is :P  
**


	9. Her Mother's Bells

**OH MY GOD! You guys are so awesome!**

**I just noticed how many reviews this little story has gotten recently and so I wanted to know what was the highest amount of reviews a OP-story has ever gotten. (It's a buttload or five, I can tell ya that much!) So, anyway when you only sort the OP-stories by the amount of reviews the have gotten you will see that thanks to all of your amazing and inexplicable interest this story is actually on _PAGE 30 of 643! _You guys made my 'be sick and bedridden'-day^^**

**I will never cease to be thankful to you.  
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* * *

_The corridor made a right and he stopped. Nojiko who had still been in her own little world bumped into his back. He heard her say something that seemed more like a sound of surprise but did not really focus on that. His mind was on the door that led to his room which was only a few feet away and the door to his right. She could not sleep in that room._

* * *

The scolding hot water poured over her head down her body making her hair cling to her cheeks and chin. She did not move at all. She just stood there thinking about what she had seen and read not noticing how the water scorched her skin and started to make her look like a lobster.

The words echoed in her head and Nojiko repeated them over and over without understanding them. Or she understood the words and the rough meaning they held. But she could not get rid of feeling resistant against whatever story was behind them.

_'Dearest Daughter,_

_what you have told me shocked me deeply and I have to admit that I cannot shake the feeling that you have written these words purely to get this reaction from me and that your next letter will contain the message that you simply wanted to mock me. I know that this is not the case but I wish it were. I have not crossed paths with this particular pirate yet but I have heard a great deal about him. Youko, child, you are smart and brave but I hope you know what you are doing. My offer still stands: You can always come back home but then you will have to abide by my rules. Your child – my grandchild – is also welcome. I will provide for it and make sure it will have a comfortable life. No matter who her father is. Decide wisely and do right by your child and yourself._

_With Love,_

_Your father'_

Somehow she managed to get out of the shower and dress herself in some comfortable shorts and a huge black shirt she had previously picked out of the backpack. She moved as if she were in a trance. Her hair hung around her face in wet strands and her eyes were half lidded. Nojiko was tired and needed a bed badly. She took the clothes she had worn before, neatly folded in her arms, opened the door to get out of the showers and nearly tripped over the lifeless body that lay on the ground curled up in a foetus-like position.

Nojiko slightly touched his back with her foot to wake him but it did not result in more than a little snore like she expected. She needed him to wake up. Otherwise she would not know where to sleep.

When he had stopped she had thought she would get to sleep in the room they were standing in front of. But unexpectedly Ace had faced the door to their right and opened it. He had turned his head right and then left but obviously could not find what he had been looking for, because he had grinned and told her to come and take a look at where Teach wanted her to sleep.

She had peeked inside a giant shower with many shower heads which was clearly meant to be the group bathroom for the entire division. In the left corner next to the door had been her backpack and her tree. Nojiko had had to swear under her breath but then had shrugged her shoulders and had turned toward the black haired pirate next to her.

"You know what? A warm shower would be perfect right about now. I feel like the salt is everywhere."

"The fate of a sailor."

"Do you have a towel or something?" Nojiko asked.

"Yes sure," he had said and vanished for a second before he had reappeared and had handed her an undeniably old but clean towel. "Here you go. I'll take your stuff out of the way."

Now Nojiko saw neither her backpack nor her tree. Only the boyish looking guy on the floor sleeping seemingly without a care in the world. She kicked him a little harder this time but when that did not have the desired effect she crouched down next to his head and whispered "pineapple". Not a single movement except for his regular breathing. "Sake". Still nothing. "Meat".

The word had not even been completely uttered as his head flew up connecting with hers still hovering over him and knocking her to the ground. She landed on her back without a sound escaping her mouth. Nojiko simply had not seen this coming.

"Meat? Where?," Ace said looking around. "What?," his eyes landed on the female diagonally next to him on the floor. "Oh, sorry. Are you all right?"

Nojiko got into a sitting position and rubbed her forehead where he had head-butted her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What were you doing down here?"

"Sleeping," he got up and while he held out a hand to her he said. "You were taking your sweet time in there."

"Lost in thought." She replied while getting up on her own.

He retracted his hand not seeming to be bothered by her not taking it. "I get it. So, for sleeping arrangements we have to improvise a little, because we have no free rooms or beds anywhere here. I hope it does not bother you to take my bed."

Nojiko looked at him confused. "And where are you gonna sleep?"

He grinned "Let's see which one of pop's nurses I will ask for that privilege tonight." and he winked at her.

She did not know if he meant what he said so she smiled and simply said "good night" and turned toward what she guessed was his room.

"Sleep tight." was all she heard before she closed the door behind her. The room was quite small and very scarcely furnished but full of stuff and junk of all sorts. There seemed to be no order what so ever anywhere in sight. All in all it looked like a frozen picture of a battlefield while a major explosion was taking place.

Nojiko saw that only the bed was somewhat empty enough for her to sleep in. She was not going to pull a snow white on the pirate and clean his stuff up while he was not there. She crawled under the sheets next to a box of belly dancing figurines. Why on earth someone would have those would probably forever stay a mystery to her.

Suddenly she remembered her backpack and plant. She sat upright again and scanned the room with her eyes for them. They stood at the other end of the bed. She shimmied over to them and fished the locket out of one of the many side-pockets of the blue piece of fabric. She lay down again forgetting to pull the blanket up with her. She opened the locket and once again looked at the two photos inside.

On the right side there was a little girl smiling at the person taking the picture. It was a free smile. No worries or hardship could be found there. The little blue haired girl did not know that she would loose a lot, fight a lot, endure more than she could ever believe to be possible, learn what it truly meant to be free and also smile a much deeper and more meaningfull smile than before.

One the left side there was a couple. They were obviously a couple, because they did not even seem to notice that a photo was being taken from them. They only had eyes for each other. A tall man stood behind a beautiful woman with mint-green hair. Both smiled and he had one hand on her shoulder and the other around her waist which she held with her own. They did not see Nojiko looking at them and her younger self now. She could guess that these were her parents, but she did not remember them and that hurt.

She had had Bellemere and she still had Nami, and Genzo, and everyone at Cocoyashi village. She did not need new or old parents who were either too occupied with themselves to care or were dead.

Nojiko hated that way she thought right now. It did not do anyone any good. Tomorrow she would find out more. For tonight it had to be enough.

* * *

"Hey." Marco greeted Ace who was walking towards him.

Without greeting his mate the second division commander asked the question that seemed to want to jump out of his mouth as soon as it could. "What do you know about her and the old man?"

He knew he could not have gone to Edward Newgate. The Yonko would have probably told him to wait until Nojiko herself was ready to tell him. But he wanted to know what it was that had the blue haired woman all riled up and looking sad.

"Honestly, I don't really know anything," the older pirate said sincerely. "What did she have in her hand? Maybe if I knew what it was I could tell you."

"Some kind of locket and a letter."

"Do you know who wrote it?"

"No, I didn't ask, 'cause she didn't seem like she wanted to talk."

"I see," Marco put his elbow on the railing and put his chin in his hand.

Ace perked up. "See what?"

Marco put his forehead in his hands as if thinking hard. "There's something, but I can't recall it at all. It's more like a feeling." He threw his hands up in apparent annoyance.

"Don't pull a muscle trying to remember, old man," Ace teased and then leaned back against the railing himself supporting his weight with his forearms. He let his head fall back into his neck and looked at the sky with a smile. "Ah ah, it doesn't matter. I just would have liked to know how to behave around her."

He did not notice how Marco perked up at his last words but continued to stare at the stars. When the older pirate had not said anything for a little while Ace pushed himself away from the railing and left in order to capture Jozu and take back what was rightfully his to begin with.

The blonde looked to the horizon. As if from far away he could hear the sound of female laughter. A little high-pitched and as clear as glass. It had always made him think of small church bells on a summer's day. A smile tucked at the edges of his mouth while he remembered her.

"Sorry mate, this is just not my story to tell."

* * *

**So yes, this is a little bit of a filler chapter, but I wanted to emphasize the importance of the necklace and the letter once more. Also I'm looking for a second beta as I just can't for the life of me get in thouch with my original one right now.  
**

**Enjoy your day :3**


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